Stabilizing fund performs well in market: MOF

MARKET MOLLIFIER:The fund was directed to enter the market in 2011 to help calm the stock exchange and netted NT$3.51bn by selling all its equity holdings

By Amy Su / Staff reporter

The state-run National Stabilization Fund earned a net total of NT$3.51 billion (US$120.79 million) on the local stock market last year by disposing of all of its equity holdings, an official at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday.

“The National Stabilization Fund’s performance in the stock market has been fairly successful and balanced,” Vice Minister of Finance William Tseng (曾銘宗) said by telephone.

Tseng is the executive secretary of the fund’s management committee.

The fund was authorized to enter the stock market in late December 2011 to help stabilize the stock exchange.

It was instructed to start selling its holdings in local shares in April last year and sold all of its equity holdings in 45 listed companies on Nov. 15, the vice minister said.

Tseng said the average rate of return stood at 8.14 percent, with the fund’s investment in Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) — the main contract manufacturer for Apple Inc’s technological gadgets — generating the highest profit at NT$528 million, with a rate of return that amounted to more than 13 percent.

By contrast, the fund’s investment in Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) — the nation’s only listed oil refiner — was its least profitable, reporting about NT$69.73 million in losses, the vice minister said.

In other news, the ministry’s National Property Administration is scheduled to auction superficies rights for five land development projects in Taipei in the first quarter.

The administration is aiming to ensure that the state-owned land is in continuous use.

Two of the five plots — both in the capital’s Zhongshan District (中山區) — are likely to attract more bidders because of their better setup and larger size compared with the other plots, said Lee Jeng-tzong (李政宗), the deputy director-general of the administration.

Three of the plots are designated for commercial use, with one intended for residential use and the other two available for both commercial and residential purposes, Lee added.

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